bissell



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. E. BISSBLL.

STATION NDGAToR. I

Patented Dec. 9

2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. E. BISSELL,

STATION INDICATOR.

,020. PatentedDeo. 9, 1884.,

Iitirrnn drains rartnr trice.

HENRI E. BISSELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE RIS- i SELL RAILROAD STATION INDICATOR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

STATIONMNDICATOR.

@PECEFECATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,020, dated December 9, 1,884.

Application filed April l0, 1884. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRI E. BIssELL, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have inventeda new Improve ment in Station-Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, an en'd view of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a partial end view showing the parts in the reverse position from that in Fig. l; Fig.

V8, a top view of that portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and so much of the whole apparatus as relates to the present invention.

This invention relates to 4mechanism to be arranged in railway-cars to indicate the station `which the train is approaching, so that passengers in the car maybe advised of the next station before the arrival of the train at that station; and the invention is an improvement upon the indicator for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to ine Au' gust l, 1882, No. 261,825. In that invention a roller is arranged to feed a strip on which are the names of the stations ofthe road, and so that at the proper time the name indicating` the neXt station will be presented in view of the passengers in the car.

The cars on a railway-line run one end forward in one direction and the other end in the opposite direction-that is, the cars are not reversed at the termination of the route; hence it is necessary that the indicator should be reversible, so that having indicated the stations along the route ruiming in one direction, on the return the indicator will run in the opposite direction, so as to present the stations successively on the return. In my patent referred to the mechanism for operating the roll consists of two cylinders and pistons,to be'opcrated by compressed air or vacuum, as the case may be, the piston of one cylinder operatingA a pawl upon one side of the ratchet on the roller-shaft, the other operating a pawl on the opposite side, one piston operating when the car is going in one direction and the otherin the opposite direction, thel mechanism being such that the exhaust or pressure is automatically shifted from one cylinder to the other when the end of the route is reached.

The object of my present invention is to eniploy a single cylinder and piston only to work in either direction,as the case may be; and the invention consists in the combination of mechanism, as more fully hereinafter described,and particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the roller, arranged ina suitable bearing in a frame, B, at one end and a corresponding bearing at the opposite end. As the invention only relates to mechanism for operating the cylinder,I show only a por tion of the cylinder in Fig. 3 and omit the bearing at the opposite end.

In vertical parallel guides C a carriage, D, is arranged to move freely up and down. At the lower end this carriage is made fast to a piston-rod, E, which extends up from a piston in the cylinder F below. The mechanism is' shown as to beoperated by a vacuum; hence the piston in its normal position stands in its up position in the cylinder, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. l.

Suitable springs, G, are applied to the piston,

serving to lift the piston and hold it in its up or normal position, but so as to yield when a vacuum is created below the piston, and so as to permit the piston to descend. As the piston descends,it carries the carriageD with it from the position seen in Fig. l to that seen in Fig. 2, and on its return brings the carriage to the position seen in Fig. l. Thus the same reciprocating movement is imparted to the carriage D as to the piston.

The shaft H, up on which the roll is arranged, extends outward through the carriage, as seen in Fig. 3.

I is a ratchet-wheel made fast to the shaft H. `The teeth of this wheel consist of a series of notches, J, distant from each other so that the pawls applied thereto will impart the requisite amount of rotation to the cylinder.

IOO

y ing to bear the stop-wheel K down upon the O, and provided with a spring, P, the tendency of which is to force the nose of the pawl toward the ratchet, and as seen in broken lines, Fig. 1, but will yield so as to permit the pawl to be .thrown out of engagement with the wheel, as seen at the left in Fig. 2. On the opposite side of the wheel a like pawl, R, is hung to the frame upon a pivot, S, provided with a like spring, T, as seen in Fig. 1. These pawls are arranged so that one will operate to turn the wheel in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. One pawl operates during the movement of the car in one direction and the other while the car is moving in the opposite direction 5 but while the one is operating the other must be thrown out. As represented .in Fig. 1, the pawl N at the left is'the active pawl, and which, as the carriage descends, will turn the ratchet and the roller in the direction indicated by the arrow.

On the carriage above the pawls a dog is arranged upon a pivot, U, one arm, V, extending to the right, the other arm, iV, to the left. The ends of the dog terminate, respect- .ively, in a hook, a b. The hook a engages a stud, d, extending outward from the tail of the pawl R, and so that when engaged, as seen in Fig. 1, the nose of the pawl R will be held away from the teethof the ratchet, to prevent the engagement of the pawl therewith as the carriage rises and falls, the other pawl being free to engage the teeth in the descent of the carriage, and solong as the dog thus holds the pawl at the right the pawl at the left will remain the active pawl 5 but if.the dog be turned from the position seen in Fig. 1 to that seen in Fig. 2, then the hook I) on the opposite end will engage a stud,` c, extending from the tail of the pawl N, and hold that pawl, N, away from the ratchet, permitting the other pawl, R, to become the active pawl, and while so engaged at each descent ofthe carriage the roll willbe turned in the opposite direction. This pawl is operated automatically, so that at the end of the route, or at a predetermined time, the dog will be turned upon its pivot to release one pawl and engage the other.

The mechanism whereby the dog is automatically operated at the termination of the route is substantially the same as that in my patent before referred to; but I will briefly describe Athe same.

The roller shaft H, extends outside the ratchet, andis screw-threaded, as at f, and on this screw-threaded portion is a traveling nut, g. On the screw at one side' of the nut is a stop, h, and on the opposite side a correspond` ing stop, These stops are adjustable toward or from the nut, as the case may be, and are secured to the shaft by suitable set-screws or otherwise,y so as to turn with it.

` Zis a disk arranged loose on the shaft, but held to prevent its longitudinal or axial movement. Outside the nut g is a cross-head, m,

also loose upon the shaft, and connected by.

rods o1. n with the disk. From the nut g arms r extend,one to the right and the other to the left, and through these arms is a hole or slot corresponding to the rods a n, and with which the arms r r engage, and so that the nut as it travels along the screw f will move freely on the rods n n. The said rods prevent the nut from turning with the shaft.

The stops i h are provided, respectively, with a finger, t a. These fingers extend radially outward. On each side of the nut g a lug, 2, extends parallel with the shaft.` These lugs stand in such a 'position that when in the path of .either of the fingers t a the lug so standing will be struck by that finger.

The stops t' 7L are arranged distant from each other so Ithat in going from one end of the line to the other the nut will travel from one stop to the other. Arriving at one end of the line, the iinger of one stop will strike the cor-4 responding lug on the nut and impart to the nut a rotation corresponding to the last movement of the stop, as from the position in Fig.- 1 to that in Fig. 2, and this rotary movement of the nut is imparted to the disk Z. Arriving at the other end of the line, the nut will have traveled toward the opposite stop, and then the lug uponthat side will engage the finger on the other stop, and the disk will be turned in the opposite direction-that is, returned from the position seen inpFig. 2 to that seen in Fig. 1.

3 is an arm made fast to the'disk Z, and so as to turn with it, say, from the position seen in Fig. 1 to that in Fig. 2, and return. Standing inthe position in Fig. 1, one end, 4, of the arm is turned upward, and so that as the carriage descends the left-hand or disengaged end of the dog will strike the highest end,4, of the arm, and thus be prevented from disengaging theopposite end; but when the arm is turned,

as before described, to the position seen in arm, and as the carriage continues its descent the dog will be turned from the position seen in Fig. 1 to that seen in Fig. 2, releasing the pawl at the right to permit its nose to fall upon the wheel I, and engaging the pawl at the left, so as to withdraw that left-hand pawl,

IOO

IIO

N, from and hold it so as to prevent engagement with the wheel I So long as the arm 3 and the dog V remain in the position seen in Fig. 1, the rollerAwill be turned in the direction indicated by the arrow; but when the dog is thrown, as described, to the position seen in Fig. 2, then the pawl upon the opposite side of the ratchet becomes the active pawl, and will turn the roller in the opposite direction, and will continue so to work until arrived at the termination of the route in that direction. Then the finger u on the stop h will strike the lug 2 on the nut, and return it fro"1n the position seen in Fig. 2 to that seen in Fig. 1, and reverse the dog on the next descent of the carriage from thc position seen in Fig. 2 to that seen in Fig. I, and so continue to do, the stop on one side turning the nut, with the disk and arm 3, at one end of the route, and the stop on the opposite side at the other end of the route.

In the running of trains it will many times occur that a car will be stopped short of the termination of the route, to be returned. In sue-h ease it is necessary to reverse the mechanism at that point, the reversing mechanism being set to operate only at the termination of the route. To provide a device whereby the mechanism may4 be reversed at any time, a slide, G, is arranged above the dog on suitable guides, and so as to move in ahorizontal path parallel with the plane of the dog. This slide is provided with a pair of fingers, 7 I7, which extend over the dog,and from the dog a ringer, 8, extends upward, and which, when the dog is in the up position, as seen inFig. 1, will stand between the fingers 7 7. AOn the disk Z. or ixed to it, is a cam-shaped slot, 9, 'the said slot engaging a stud on one arm, 10, of a lever hung upon a pivot, 1l, the other arm, l2, of the lever engaged by a connecting-rod, 13, with the slide (3. rIhe shape of the cam-slot 9 is such that as the disk is turned from the position seen in Fig. 1 to that in Fig. 2 the levcrwill be correspondinglyturned from one position to the other, as indicated in thosefigures, and on the return of the disk the lever will be returned. The parts standing as in Fig. 1, the dog engaged with the pawl at the right, if the disk Z be turned to raise the camslot 9, the lever I0 I2 will be turned and throw the slide to the opposite extreme, as seen in Fig. 2. In this movement, because ofthe fingers 7 7 engaging the iinger 8 on the dog, the dog will be turned to its reverse position, releasing the pawl at the right and engaging the pawl at the left, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 1. To thus turn the disk a lever, 14, is

,applied to a sleeve, l5, extending from the cross-head m, and concentric with the disk, and so that by turning this lever in lone direction or the other the disk will be turned accordingly, and this may be done independent of the stops fi 7i; hence if, say, the stops be set for a twenty-statioi'i road, starting from one terminus, say, with the left-hand pawl working, as seen in Fig. 1, each station willbe indicated. N ow, suppose that instead of running to the other terminus,where the mechanism would be automatically shifted,the car is to return from the tenth station. At that point the person in charge will turn the disk l, as before described, throwing the dog into engagement with the pawl at the left and release ing the pawl at the right. Then as the car returns the feed will be in the proper direction. Vhile this shifting mechanism independent o1' the stops is ,desirable from the fact that it may be operated outside the case which incloses it, the lever 14 being arranged on the outside at the end of the -indicator, it may be dispensed with, the person in charge reversing the dog directly.

The automatic mechanism whereby at the termination oi' the route the dog will bc reversed niay be dispensed with, the reversing being done by hand through the operation oi' the slide G.

I have represented the invention as operated by a vacuum or suction; but it may be operated by pressure. In that case the piston will be down in its normal condition and raised to operate the machine. In such case the pawls and their operative mechanism will also be reversed, so as to operate when the carriage rises instead of when it drops, as before described. The opening 10 in the eylinder is made for the application of vacuum or pressure, as the case may be.

It will be understood that this mechanism can be worked eitherl by the engineer or conductor in any car on the train, and by either principleof pressure or vacuum. As in niy previous inventions, the roller is provided with a slip or ribbon, 16, passing around it, and by the rotation of the rollerthe slip is drawn from, say, one roll, 17, and wound upon apother roll, 1S, thc stations being indicated on the surface of the ribbon, and in such position as to be presented before some suitable opening iu the case which incloses the mech anism, as in my previous patent referred to.

I claim- 1 -Thc combination of the cylinderAF, its piston and rod carrying the carriage D, the pawls N R, hung, respectively, on opposite sides ofthe carriage, thc ratchet I in connection with the roller A, and with which either ofsaid pawls may engage, a dog, V YV, hung upon a pivot on the carriage, and so as to turn to the right and left, and accordingly engage one pawl to take it from action upon the ratchet and leave the other free to act upon the ratchet, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the cylinder F, its piston and rod carrying the carriage D, the pawls NR, arranged in said carriage at opposite sides, the roller A, the ratchet I, fixed to the shaft of said roller and between said two pawls, the dog V WV, hung to the carriage, and arranged to engage either of said pawls to prevent action upon the ratchet, leaving the other IOO IIO

pawl free for action upon vthe ratchet, the l upon apivot on the carriage, and so as to turn nut g, arranged on a correspondingly screwthreaded portion of the shalt, stops vl h, fixedto said shaft on opposite sides of the nut, the disk Z, loose upon the shaft, but xed to prevent movement longitudinally and in connection With the nut, the said stops arranged to engage the said nut at predetermined times and impart to itapartial rotation, which partial rotation is communicated to said disk, the said disk provided with an arm, 3 4 5, Where by the said dog is automatically turned from its engagement with one pawl into engagement With the other, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the cylinder F, its piston and rod carrying the carriage D, the pawls N R, hung, respectively, on opposite sides of the carriage, the ratchet I in connection With the roller A, and with Which either of said pawls may engage, a dog, V XV, hung to the right and left, and accordingly engage the one paw] to take it from action upon the ratchet and leave the other free to act upon the ratchet, the disk Z, loose upon the shaft and carrying the cam-shaped slot 9, the horizontal slide 6 in connection With said camshaped slot, whereby a partial rotation of said disk will impart a corresponding horizontal movement to said slide, the said slide'provided with fingers 7 7, and the dog constructed with a finger, 8, extending from its hub between said fingers, whereby through the turning of the disk Z the said dog may be thrown to the right or left, as the case may be, substantially as speciled.

HENRI E. BISSELL. Vitnesses:

Jos. O. EARLE, J. H. SHUMWAY. 

